History of the Volvo Car

Volvo Amazon. The first real international seller

It was on the 3rd of August that the new four-door Volvo Amazon was shown
to enthusiastic Volvo dealer at a conference in Skövde. The car on display
bore chassis number 2, featured right-hand drive and two-tone paintwork, and
differed from the upcoming production version on a number details, both on the
otside and on the inside.

The car had been designed by the young Jan Wilsgaard with inspiration from
Italian, British and US car design at the time.The result was Volvo's first
pontoon body and a design which still looks good today and which contained
several design elements that can still be seen on Volvo cars of today.
The engine plans had contained several different alternatives, like a small V8
and a straight six but eventually resulted in a 60 bhp 1.6 litre in-line four.
This B16 engine was merely a bored out version of the B4B engine of the PV444.
Power to the rear wheels was transmitted through a three-speed gearbox but
already during that first showing in Skövde there were some grumble about the
lack of a fourth gear. Still, the new Volvo was a very handsome car and it
promised a lot for the future.

Amason becomes Amazon
The name Amason had been chosen because of its original meaning. If Volvo's
iron mark logo associated to things masculine, the word amason did the
opposite. According to Greek mythology, the amazons were female warriors who
fought with bow and arrow. The legend has it that they had their right breast
removed in order to be able to better use their deadly weapons (Greek a mazos
= breastless). These powerful women fought on the Trojan side against the
Greeks during the Trojan war. Besides cars and mopeds, the amazons have also
lent their name to, for instance, the Amazon river.

Amason became the internationally spelled Amazon before the car came on the
market but the people at Volvo who had come up with that name had
unfortunately little reason to cheer:

The German motorbike manufacturer Kreidler had just launched a moped called
the Amazone, had registered the name and claimed the sole right to it. The
final deal between the companies meant that Volvo was allowed to use the name
Amazon on the Nordic markets but not elesewhere. The Amazone moped, however,
disappeared from the market already in 1959. If Volvo had really persisted,
and practised some patience, they would surely have gained the right to the
name eventually, with the result that the car could have been called Amazon in
every country.

Today, when you "google" the word "amazon" you get
965,000,000 hits! Most of them do definitely not relate to the moped with the
same name, but neither do they refer to the Volvo Amazon. The name is widely
used in completely other contexts today. A funny detail here is that Volvo
kept the international spelling of the name with a "z" although the
Amazon was only sold in the Nordic countries under that name.

The Amazon becomes the 122
Volvo 122 was the name of the new model outside the Nordic countries, but the
designations 12 and 1200 were also used for some markets. The internal
designation had been P1200. Consequently, the car line was officially called
the 120 with the possibiliy to change the last digit for other future model
variations and the first customer delivieries took place in February/March
1957. Gone were the large chrome Volvo letters on the rear bumper and the
rectangular indicator lamps on the front wings. Instead, the new car had
standard-fitted safety belt fixings in the front seat, indicators that went
"around the corner" on the front wings and new Amazon badges.

The new car which was only built in a four-door saloon version fir the
first few years, became an instant hit and soon passed the elder PV444/544 in
the sales statistics. The second version to be launched, in 1958 was the 122S
(S for Sports). More power and a much wanted four-speed gearbox made the car
very attractive in the public eye. The year after, in 1959, the Volvo Amazon
and the PV544 became the first cars in the world to feature standard-fitted
three-point safety belts in the front seats.

The orginal sales price was SEK 12,600 ex works in Gothenburg, and the
works at the time was Volvo's old Lundby plant but the Amazon also becae the
first Volvo to be produced in the Torslanda plant which opened in 1964. The
Amazon also was the first Volvo to be built in the Belgian Ghent plant which
started operations in 1965 and assembly also took place in Halifax, Canada,
for the Candian market. These Amazons were marketed under the name of Volvo
Canadian.

From 60 to 115 hp
In 1961, a two-door version was introduced, called the 121 and in 1962 more
doors were added; an estate version, the 220 was launched at the Stockholm
Motor Show. The name Amazon had officially been dropped already in 1961 and
the cars were to be referred to by the different numerical designations in all
markets. In spite of this, however, Amazons were still marketed and sold by
Volvo in Sweden until the very end in 1970.

The technical contents kept pace with the model development. Engines grew
in size and power, from 1.6 litres to 1.8 litres and eventually to 2 litres
(B20 engine). Power went up from the original 60 bhp to 115 bhp for the sporty
123 GT version. Three speeds quickly became four, including an optional
overdrive on top gear. The drums were later on replaced with disc brakes, even
power-assisted towards the end. The dynamo gave place to an alternator, an
early form of exhaust emission control was fitted just like safety belts on
all places front and rear before production life ended.

The 123 GT was the most powerful of all the different 120-models offered. It
featured, among other things, a rev counter, a sporty three-spoke
steering-wheel and auxiliary lamps as standard. The least inspiring of the
120s was the Favorit – a simpler and cheaper version of the standard 120
which, in spite of its name, never became a favourite.

On the whole, however, the 120 series cars were great sellers at the time.
Compare the 440,000 PV444/544s produced in 21 years with the 667,323 120s
built during its 14 year of existence. And more than half of these were
exported.

The very last Amazon (!) to be built rolled off the finishing line in the
Torslanda plant on July 3 1970. There production life ended for a long-lived
series of tough and reliable cars which strongly contributed to establishing
the Volvo reputation as the manufacturer of safe quality cars at an attractive
price. By then, the multi-talented car had given safe and reliable service to
thousands of families all over the world, to numerous police forces plus
winning the Acropolis rally, among many other things. Thousands of Amazons
around the world still bear witness of a true survivor, being they well looked
after collectors cars or mellowed "million-milers" in daily use.